Local teen Diya Comar champions Jacksonville water quality with Salt and Soul initiative

Jacksonville residents have a strong tradition of keeping local beaches clean, but the quality of the water itself often receives less attention. Diya Comar, a senior at The Bolles School, recognized this gap and founded Salt and Soul, a student-led environmental advocacy platform.

Salt and Soul aims to make environmental information accessible and actionable for young people in the Jacksonville area. The platform focuses on local environmental issues, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy, providing interactive tools like a Water Footprint Calculator and Ocean Plastic Tracker to help individuals understand their impact.

Comar's understanding of coastal protection grew through her involvement in environmental programs and research. She learned about coastal erosion, water quality, plastic pollution, and changing shorelines. During a summer sustainability program at the University of Florida, Comar began to think about how to make environmental information more accessible to her peers.

“For a long time, I saw the coast as something that would always be there. That changed as I became more involved in environmental programs and research,” Comar said. “I started learning about coastal erosion, water quality, plastic pollution, and how quickly our shorelines are changing. During a summer sustainability program at the University of Florida, I began thinking about how environmental information could be made more accessible to people my age.”

Salt and Soul highlights Jacksonville-area environmental issues, volunteer opportunities, local organizations, and advocacy opportunities. It also offers ways people can change their own environmental impact. The Water Footprint Calculator and Ocean Plastic Tracker tools help users visualize their contribution to environmental concerns.

“I knew I didn’t want Salt and Soul just to be another website telling people that climate change or water pollution is bad. There is already so much information online. I wanted people to visit the site and leave knowing something they could actually do. That’s why I focused on making environmental issues local and interactive,” Comar added.

Residents interested in learning more about local water quality issues or getting involved can visit the Salt and Soul platform.